An enlightening and extensive piece on the present status of the gaming world is now available on GamesIndustry.biz, complete with interviews from professionals such as Mat Piscatella from Circana.
However, it’s the views of the ex-PlayStation executive, Shawn Layden, that are causing a stir online, as he has shared his perspective on the Xbox Game Pass.
In a broader conversation on video game pricing, the longtime Sony executive expressed his concern that subscription services offering day-one releases might pose a potential “risk,” likening it to the music streaming service, Spotify.
Nowadays, music is often deemed as having little value, but musicians can still earn money through live performances, which constitutes an adjacent market for them. Conversely, the game industry does not offer such a lucrative alternative avenue.
This revised version aims to maintain the original meaning while using more natural and easily readable language, as well as providing a comparison between music and games to further clarify the point being made.
As a creator myself, I can understand the potential benefits that subscriptions might offer for smaller developers looking to gain exposure – like an intriguing mystery series, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, perhaps? However, I worry about the long-term implications. Creators could find themselves trapped in an unending cycle of labor, akin to being wage slaves, with minimal incentive to deliver exceptional value to the market. The hope is always that one’s project will take off, but it may not always be realistic to rely on that alone.
He said:
A lot of discussions are taking place about whether Game Pass is profitable or not. But, framing it as ‘Is Game Pass profitable?’ or ‘Isn’t Game Pass profitable?’ might not be the most appropriate way to view things. Instead, a more relevant question could be: How does Game Pass generate revenue and what benefits does it offer to its users?
There are multiple ways to restructure financial reports for various corporate services to give an appearance of profitability. By eliminating enough expenses and labeling them as off-balance sheet items, one can easily achieve this goal. However, when discussing something like Game Pass, my concern lies in its impact on the developer’s wellbeing rather than its immediate profitability.
Instead of developing games with the expectation that they’ll gain popularity and generate profits, sharing overages and other benefits, the approach is more straightforward. It goes like this: ‘I get paid a set hourly rate, I design a game for you, and then it’s your responsibility to upload it onto your servers.’
I don’t think it’s really inspiring for game developers.”
It’s likely that these comments will spark quite a bit of debate, and there may be a good deal of concern voiced about them.
It seems Layden’s argument is clear enough, yet one might wonder if developers still feel motivated to push boundaries in terms of creativity and quality when the success of their product is directly tied to the number of subscribers who have already invested in it. Most likely, developers would find issue with this scenario.
Fundamentally, we believe creators strive to produce captivating outputs, and in certain instances, the promise of assured income could serve as a tool for helping them achieve this goal.
As a devoted follower, I must express that Microsoft’s subscription service, despite their assertions, simply isn’t designed to accommodate such a vast development network – and that’s primarily why we’re witnessing them bring nearly all of their library to the PlayStation 5 at present.
It’s likely that these discussions will continue indefinitely, but it’s apparent that Layden firmly stands by his views – he’s not a fan of Xbox Game Pass, and it seems unlikely that his opinion will be swayed by anyone else.
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2025-08-14 01:11